The North Carolina Aviators Thread

[mikezone13]

You've really left out NJ in this review

We're the team 3 games back in the wildcard race (and falling fast) and Sepulveda leads the PL in ERA (2.13).

With the poor performances my guys are having I need all the credit we can get

[Chappy]

Don't worry, I'm due for another 1-8 sim real soon, that'll help you get back into the wildcard spot.

[Chappy]

Walsh to Miss 13 Months (or more)



Ed Walsh might have an ugly ERA (4.63) but he's been effective, going 11-6 in his 22 starts this year for the Aviators.  However, a torn flexor tendon in his elbow suffered during his last start has put him on the shelf until next September.  The 30-year-old was drafted with the 639th overall pick in the dispersal draft and had not figured into the franchise's long-term plans, but he has been a key factor in keeping North Carolina in the playoff hunt this season.

The Aviators are currently 68-57 and in control of the top wildcard seed.

[Chappy]

Barbier Stole Felix's Spot

When Jesus Felix went down with a hip strain July 15th, he was the #3 hitter in the Aviators lineup.  Five weeks later, he returned to the team, but has not yet returned to the starting lineup.

If anyone would be safe from having their spot stolen it's the #3 hitter, right?  Wrong.  Benjamin Barbier stepped into Felix's shoes and led the Aviators in OPS over the 5 weeks Felix was out.  When he came back, manager Rob Chappy had no choice but to stay with the hot bat.  Now, nearly a month after Felix's return, Barbier still leads the team in OPS.

Put on your manager's cap for a minute... who would you start in your outfield?

Name (Position Rating) - AVG-HR-RBI/OBP/SLG/OPS - SB/ATT
Benjamin Barbier (LF 4) - .294-10-39/.363/.511./874 - 7/9
Crawdad Hicks (LF 6/CF 8/RF 2) .307-2-43/.423/.410/.833 - 39/58
Jose Chavez (LF 1/RF 5) .269-29-99/.343/.472/.815 - 2/3
Jesus Felix (LF 4) .269-15-59/.343/.469/.812 - 0/1

[Chappy]

Aviators Finish First Season
LINK to Season Summary

The North Carolina Aviators finished the AFBL's inaugural season with a 92-70 record, 4 games better than their Pythagorean record and far better than their predicted finish of 79-83.

The Aviators defeated New Jersey in 5 games in the best-of-five Wildcard Series, and fell in 7 games to Ohio in the best-of-seven Patriot League Championship Series.

Pitcher Joe Haines was named NC Aviators MVP.  The All-Star finished the season ranked 3rd in Wins, 2nd in W%, 4th in K's and 2nd in ERA & WHIP.  At the plate, he led all pitchers in the Patriot League with 19 sacrifice hits, while batting .246 with 5 doubles, a triple, 9 runs scored and 5 RBI.  He finished 3rd on Most Valuable Pitcher voting.

All in all, it was a successful year for North Carolina.

[Chappy]

Aviators Take Rhodes in Ammy Draft

After a successful first season, North Carolina wound up with the 13th pick out of the 16 teams in the AFBL.

With their first pick, the team selected a 19-year-old catcher named Luis "Gravel" Rhodes.



The Wyoming native really hit the cover off the ball as a senior in high school, but North Carolina scouts were even more impressed with how he carries himself off the field.  Rodeo is a great leader and a hard worker; a real blue-collar backstop.

His key attributes are his Arm, his Power, and his ability to Avoid K's.

[Chappy]

2014 Opening Day Lineup

The North Carolina Aviators begin their 2nd season Monday on the road against the Ontario Blue Pirates.  Here is a look at the starting nine!

1. CF - #1 - Crawdad Hicks

.286-2-51 - 103 runs, 114 walks, 42 steals, .401 OBP, ALL-STAR

2. SS - #2 - Curds Campos

.269-8-66 - 97 runs, 68 steals

3. LF - #13 - Benjamin Barbier

.303-14-51 (only 314 ABs) - 55 runs, .875 OPS

4. RF - #4 - Jose Chavez

.283-38-113 - 99 runs, ALL-STAR

5. 1B - #5 - Rory White

.257-35-93 - 88 runs

6. 2B - #40 - Juan Rodriguez - Acquired from Oregon in off-season

.253-7-49 - 29 2B, 62 runs

7. 3B - #12 - Eddie Kinlaw - Starting in place of injured Cesar Alfaro (4 weeks)

.242-3-16 (only 132 at bats) - 12 runs, 14 walks

8. CA - #15 - Sid Matthews - Starting in place of injured Steve Wright (5 days)

.172-2-11 (only 99 at bats) - 11 runs, 13 walks, 33% runner thrown out

9. P - #21 - Joe Haines

18-5, 2.74 - 206 Ks, 1.04 WHIP, ALL-STAR

[Chappy]

Minor League Pitcher Blasts NC Organization


Horace Cornett did not have anything nice to say about his team's parent club

After finding out he was not going to make the Aviators 25-man roster, Raleigh-bound pitcher Horace Cornett slammed his team to reporters Sunday afternoon.

"It's complete bull***!  I did everything they asked of me, and I could not have put up better numbers than I did, on the mound AND at the plate.  I had more doubles than half those fools that made the squad, and I only had a few trips the plate.  It's crap!  The whole thing is crap!"

Technically, Cornett COULD have done better, but it would have been tough; he did not allow a run in 9 innings, including 4 scoreless innings in a spot start, and went 3-for-3 at the plate with all three hits being doubles. 

Cornett will likely regret his comments later; he's the top reliever in AAA Raleigh, and last year due to injuries did appear in games for the Aviators, posing a 1-0 record with 2 saves and a 3.22 ERA in 28 appearances.  But for the time being, he's holding nothing back.

"They're all idiots.  All of them.  The coaches, the manager, the scouts.  Numbers don't lie.  I didn't give up a ****ing run all spring!  It's crap!

[Chappy]

Aviators Try to Stay Positive After Slow Start

A month into the season, North Carolina is sitting at 9-22, dead last in the Patriot League.  Chappy, the manager, has been slow to make adjustments to the rotation, but quick to move players around in the lineup, and so far little has changed.

Now with an 11-game hole to climb out of just to claim a wildcard spot, time is starting to become a factor.

Fingers can be pointed in many directions; at the 8th ranked team batting average, at the 8th ranked team ERA, at Chappy himself, who traded away outfielder Jesus Felix in favor of Benjamin Barbier, who is hitting just .191 and has fallen from 3rd to 7th in the lineup.  But don't point at the top of the order... that's the one group on this team that is playing hard and succeeding.

Lead-off batter extraordinaire Crawdad Hicks is batting .333 with a .442 on-base percentage, scoring 17 of the team's 113 runs this season along with 9 doubles, 2 triples and 8 stolen bases. 

Small-ball sensation Curds Campos, the number two hitter in the order, is batting .315 with 15 runs scored and 8 steals.

Jose Chavez has moved up from the clean-up spot to the number 3 spot and is hitting .302 with 11 homers and 28 RBI so far, putting him on pace to hit more than the 38 bombs he hit last season.

Cesar Alfaro, who started at third base for NC last season, returns to the club this week after missing six weeks to an injury suffered during ST.  Alfaro's replacement, Eddie Kinlaw, has hit just .207 in Alfaro's place...  perhaps having Alfaro back will help.  He doesn't hit for average (.223 last year) but does have good power (33 doubles, 16 homers) for a player at the tail end of the order.

[Chappy]

Do or Die Time for Rodriguez; Aviators

On June 5th, the North Carolina Aviators were 21-34 (.382) and dead last in the PL.

Since that date, they have gone a PL-best 10-4, passing New York, Kentucky and Massachusetts in the standings and raising their winning % to .449. 

However, tragedy struck on June 20th when, while making a routine throw from short, Curds Campos literally destroyed his shoulder.  Doctors were able to put it back together, but the healing process is expected to take 9 months. 

North Carolina will need to find a way to continue their hot play without their team leader in batting average (.326) and one of the games most exciting characters.

Opportunity knocks for Juan Rodriguez.  Brought over from Oregon in an off-season trade to be the man at 2B, Rodriguez floundered, allowing incumbent 2B Kurt Clay to keep his job.  Although he's hitting just .220 on the year, Rodriguez, who hit .253 last year for Oregon and clearly has the potential to hit .270-.280, will get a chance to replace Campos for the remainder of the season.  Why?  Because he's absolutely phenomenal at playing SS. 

Scouts describe Rodriguez as a good contact hitter who is tough to fan, so he will likely slide right into the #2 spot in the order where Curds usually resides.  Hopefully, that will get the 26-year-old kickstarted, and the Aviators won't miss a beat in their quest to make up quite a bit of ground in the PL race.

[Chappy]

Positional Battles to Watch this Spring

The Aviators never truly entered the playoff picture last season, finishing 4th in the league and winding up with the 10th pick in the draft.

That said, there is a lot of optimism as the new season approaches.  Here is a look at some potential battles for playing time:

5th Starter - Joe Haines, Norberto Leon, Big Boots Thompson and Don Wilson have the first 4 spots wrapped up.  Ed Walsh (on DL most of the season, 0-0, 0.00 in 5.1 innings) Tommy Blake (9-8, 4.76 in AAA) and Jeremy Guy (4-13, 6.12 in 28 starts) will duke it out this spring for the #5 spot.

First Base - Incumbent first baseman Rory White had a great year (.275-35-91), but was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in August.  It is unknown how long the 32-year-old will still be effective.  34-year-old Billy Zimmerman is going to try to get some playing time; the Z man has been a beast in AAA (.320-33-111 in 2013 and .326-25-99 last year) but has hit just .123 in 57 big league at bats.

Left Field - In 2013, Benjamin Barbier led the Aviators with an OPS of .876.  Last year, he had a terrible start and hit just .242-15-38 on the year with his OPS falling to .703.  This year, he'll have to hit well, or he'll be replaced by Norm Hughes.  Hughes has been a backup outfielder with NC, where he's hit .234 with 6 HR in 218 big league ABs.

[Chappy]

Aviators Fall to Texas in 7 Games

From the AP:

Texas Isotopes Are Champs
Tuesday, October 27th, 2015
"It was two outs in the last inning of the 2015 Federation Cup Series and my heart is pounding. When the last out was made, a grand feeling came over me. We were the champs for today and forever. We were the champions." That is how the Texas manager described his feelings to reporters after the game. "This is the goal. This is the pinnacle of success. This is why we play the game."

The Texas Isotopes won their 1st league championship with a 6-3 win over the North Carolina Aviators. During the season the new champs compiled a 100-62 record in the West and finished in second place in the standings. They triumphed over the Aviators 4-3 in games.

Everything had seemed to fall into place for the Aviators in game 7; PL ERA king Joe Haines was 4-0 in the postseason and on the mound.  But he allowed a 3-run and a 2-run HR in the early going and it was too much for the offensively challenged Aviators to overcome.  First baseman Rory White (.282-32-94) had gone down for the season in early September, and although North Carolina still had enough in the tank to defeat the New Jersey athletics in 7 games, they just didn't have enough to overcome the powerful Isotopes, who outscored NC 31-21 in the series. 

NC GM Chappy made a vow to the fans following the game that North Carolina, usually quiet on the trading front, would have an active off season and make it back to the playoffs in 2016.

He didn't wait long to get started...

[Chappy]

Alfaro Retires


40-year-old veteran Cesar Alfaro has called it quits. 

Alfaro hit 16 HR and drove in 51 in the Aviators inaugural season and hit 19 HR and drove in 55 in the team's second season, before falling off and losing his starting job at third base this season, when he hit just .233 with 3 HR in 180 at bats.

PLAYER CARD

Alfaro had been the 447th overall pick in the inaugural draft.

[Chappy]

Aviators Acquire Gutierrez from Kentucky
Instantly adds power and defense

Jesus Gutierrez is now a member of the North Carolina Aviators.

Per 162 games - 639 AB, 166 H, 34 2B, 3 3B, 23 HR, 82 RBI - .260 / .311 /    .428 / .739

The 29-year-old comes to North Carolina in exchange for all seven of the Aviators draft pick in the current amateur draft.

Pundits were quick to point out that 7 players are a lot for a player that hit just .252 this season, but Aviators brass are quick to justify the traded.  Gutierrez is a complete player; he has two best defender awards (2013, 2014) and is in the running for a third.  Scouts say has decent speed and is a good baserunner, although he has only been successful in 19 of 37 career SB attempts.  He's finished in the top 10 in WAR twice. 

But what has North Carolina scouts most excited is the fact that he has been a solid producer despite being very unhappy.  Gutierrez has a very high need to play for a winner, and Kentucky has been at the bottom of the barrel, finishing in 6th, 8th and 8th the past 3 seasons.  Scouts feel that once Gutierrez is in a winning environment he will blossom into an All-Star 3rd baseman.

The acquisition of Gutierrez will also move current Aviators 3B Juan Rodriguez (.320-13-70) to 2B, where he is rated a 10, meaning the trade upgrades the Aviators infield at two positions. 

Rumors are out there that the Aviators are still looking for an upgrade or two, so stay tuned, there may be more news on the way.

[Chappy]

Top Prospect Smith Trying to Land in Starting Lineup
Impressive September in NC has Smith among 2016 ROY candidates


The #1 prospect in the Aviators organization is a left-handed outfielder from Wyoming named Greg Smith.

Smith, taken in the 53rd round of the inaugural draft (834th overall) was not on anyone's radar back in 2013.  Twenty years old at the time, Smith quietly hit .266 with 8 home runs for the Delray Beach Grasshopper of the Rookie League. 

As his second pro season was about to begin, he was finally a blip on most scouts radars, coming in at #96 on the top 100 prospects list.  He exceeded everyone's expectations in his second season in Delray Beach, hitting .374 with 18 HR in just 78 games before being called up to single A OBX.  Even though he would play his final 59 games with OBX, he was named the Rookie League's Most Valuable Hitter for 2014.  He hit just .245 for the OBX Privateers, but hit 12 homers, giving him a total of 30 between the two levels in 2014.

By the start of 2015, he was the top prospect in the North Carolina system and the #32 prospect overall.  A fast start - .404 with 5 HR in 14 games with the Privateers - earned him a promotion to AA Greensboro, where he hit .292-13-60 in 91 games before being called up to AAA Raleigh.  In 27 AAA games, he hit .315-8-25, making it clear he was ready for a call up in September.

The 22-year-old didn't disappoint.  Appearing in 20 games including 8 starts, Smith hit .381 with 1 HR and 5 RBI.  4 of his 16 hits were doubles, showing off his ability to find the gap.  The Aviators are hoping for a big spring from Smith, who has a real shot at unseating Benjamin Barbier and starting in Left Field on opening day.

Total 2015 stat line (includes games in A, AA, AAA and the bigs)

Code: [Select]

Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB HP SF K SB CS AVG
2015 OBX - A 22 14 52 21 6 1 5 10 13 10 1 1 7 1 1 .404
2015 Greensboro - AA 22 91 367 107 41 0 13 60 57 32 4 3 85 0 0 .292
2015 Raleigh - AAA 22 27 108 34 3 2 8 25 23 8 2 0 28 0 0 .315
2015 NC - AFBL 22 20 42 16 4 0 1 5 4 2 1 0 11 0 0 .381
TOTAL 22 152 569 178 54 3 27 100 97 52 8 4 131 1 1 .313